The Russian Passenger
Günter Ohnemus
Translated by John Brownjohn
‘At fifty the good Buddhist takes to the road, leaving all his belongings behind. His sole possession is a begging bowl. That’s fine. That’s how it should be. The problem was, there were four million dollars in my begging bowl and the mafia were after me. It was their money. They wanted it back, and they also wanted the girl, the woman who was with me: Sonia Kovalevskaya.’
So begins the story of Harry Willemer, a taxi driver and his passenger, an ex-KGB agent and wife of a Russian Mafioso. In an atmosphere of intense paranoia The Russian Passenger follows their flight from the hit-men sent to recover the cash.
This is a gripping multifaceted thriller, not only about murder and big money but also a powerful evocation of the cruel history that binds Russia and Germany.